


Remember

by Mcusekat



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Amnesia, F/M, Hospitalization, Lost Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-20 22:10:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11344092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mcusekat/pseuds/Mcusekat
Summary: From a prompt from Basilevs- "Thank you for being awesome and hearing me out! So, here's the prompt: Ryan was in a bus crash. He wakes up from a coma with no memory of his life, and hears about a girl, Meg, who was on the same bus and woke up a week before him suffering the same kind of retrograde amnesia. They bond over their similar situations, and when they are finally discharged they decide to stick together for a while trying to figure out how to start a new life from scratch. That's it, I hope you like it!"





	Remember

**Author's Note:**

> [Credit for the prompt goes to Basilevs!](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Basilevs/pseuds/Basileus) Sorry this took so long! I really enjoyed the prompt, thank you so much for the idea! I hope you like how it turned out <33

   Ryan never liked hospitals. When he woke up to the sound of beeping machines and bright white colors he immediately felt a sense of dread wash over him.

  Consciousness came back to him in waves, but he still couldn’t quite recall the events leading up to him being in the hospital. He moved his body experimentally, staring with his fingers and toes, then full limbs, Once he found that he was not, in fact, paralyzed he sat up but was immediately knocked back down by a sharp pain to his head. He raised his arm and touched his forehead where a small bandage lay. It wasn’t big, so he assumed his injury couldn’t be too bad. Just a small patch. The fact that he couldn’t recall anything was somewhat troubling but he imagined that he’d been pumped full of drugs so he shrugged it off.

  He searched for the button to call a nurse. After a few moments an older, tired looking woman came bustling in. “Finally decided to wake up, did you?” she said with a slight smile. She grabbed Ryan’s arm and started talking his vitals and recording the results on a small tablet. “What do you remember, hun?” she asked as she shined a light in his eye.

  “Not much,” he croaked. His voice was hoarse from disuse.

  She typed something on her tablet and frowned. “Okay. Here, hun. Drink this.” She placed a bottle of water on the table and Ryan hurried to drink it. His mouth was dry, so dry, and the room temperature hospital water was like a blessing. “I’ll be back in a moment, hun.”

  “Wait, please. How long have I been out?” he asked, a slight desperation in his voice.

  “About a week. Someone will come and talk to you in just a moment hun.”

  And with that, she left the room. Ryan felt empty. He tried hard to recall anything, but it was like he had only just begun to exist, like nothing at all had happened to him before ten minutes ago. His head was aching now and he kind of wanted to go back to sleep. Instead, he looked around the room. There was a window on one side, with a view of a small outdoor quad area with people eating. There was a second bed, a small CRTV, a desk with a few books. He squinted at the books, immediately recognizing them as not hopital books. He was still trapped in the bed by a hundred wires connected to a hundred machines and his head injury seemed to have made his vision bad. Or perhaps he’d always had bad vision.

  The door opened and he looked over, expecting a doctor to inform him of his situation. What he saw instead was a completely different sight.

  “Oh, you’re awake!”

  The girl had long purple hair, pulled back into a neat ponytail. She was wearing hospital issue sweatpants and a t-shirt and looked a little tired. He wondered if she was the inhabitant of the other bed in this room.

  “Hi,” he said, slightly confused.

  “I’m Meg Turney,” she said. “We share a room here.”

  “Oh,” he said.

  She smiled and crossed the room to her bed. Ryan watched her. She sat on the bed and drew her knees to her chest. “You were in the bus accident too, right?”

  Bus accident? A feeling of familiarity activated in his brain, but he couldn’t quite recall being in an accident. That feeling of frustration rang again.

  “I… don’t know. I can’t really remember anything.”

  “Me either,” she said somewhat sadly. “My family has been visiting me and trying to help me remember but the nurse said it doesn’t really work that way. Sometimes it does, but rarely. She said it’s very improbable that we’ll ever completely regain our memory back.”

  Family. Ryan wondered if anyone had visited him. If he had family at all. “Has anyone visited me?”

  “A few people. A redhaired guy with a beard and his wife, a guy with tattoos. They said they were your friends. No family stopped by, though…”

  He had friends at least, he thought. That made him a little happier. Friends who cared about him enough to visit him. Even if he couldn’t remember anything about any of them.

  “The redhead one visits every couple of days. He’ll probably be by today,” Meg said.

  Ryan started to respond but a doctor came in. His afternoon was suddenly a series of tests to gauge where his mind was at. He could still write and read, and perform basic human functions but he had no episodic memory from before the accident. His doctor told him that his brain injury was mild, and that there was a chance he may, someday, regain his memories but that he shouldn’t get his hopes up.

  “When can I go home?” he asked. He didn’t even know what home was but he wanted to be anywhere but at the hospital, with the sterile white walls and the constant sounds.

  “It depends on how everything goes. We must still run tests to gauge your condition. You suffered a head injury, Mr. Haywood. It may not be severe but that's a risky injury, nonetheless,” the doctor said. “Barring horrible news, I’d say you’ll be back home within a month.”

  Ryan could do a month, he decided. In the process the doctor told him he’d be in physical therapy, as well as mental therapy, and the nurses would be keeping an eye on his head wound to be sure it didn’t worsen. Ryan said he felt fine. It wasn’t a lie, the longer he was awake the better he felt.

  When he got back there was a bag on the table. Meg was in her bed with a book, reading somewhat absently. When Ryan walked in she looked up and smiled. She had a brilliant smile, it seemed so genuine.

  “How’d it go?” she asked.  

  “Meh, alright. The doctors here are downers.”

  She smiled again. “Yeah, I got the whole ‘Don’t get your hopes up’ spiel too.’” She then pointed to the bag on the bed. “One of the hospital staff dropped this off while you were gone. I’m assuming it’s the stuff you had during the accident.”

  Ryan opened it up quickly with some distant hope that it would contain all the memories lost. However, it was mostly old clothes, a Kindle, a phone charger, shower products, etc. He searched around for something like a wallet or cellphone, but found none. Meg must’ve seen him searching because she said, “The stuff that was on you in the accident should be in a bag in the drawer.”

  Ryan opened the bedside drawer and, in a tied up grocery bag, he found his cell, wallet, and what was left of his clothing.

  A weight settled in his stomach. His wallet hadn’t revealed much, his full name (which the doctors had told him), his birthdate, height, weight, etc. But his phone would reveal much more personal details. He plugged his phone into the port beside his bed, and waited a moment until it had enough charge to turn on. The screen wasn’t shattered, and as it lit up he noticed it seemed relatively unaffected by the accident. He noticed Meg was watching him curiously from her bed.

  “I’m almost afraid of what I’ll find. I mean, what if I’m a serial killer or something?” Ryan joked.

  Meg laughed, a sound that made Ryan’s smile widen. “I doubt it, they’d probably tie you to the bed or something. Not just let you walk around.”

  “Maybe they don’t know I’m a serial killer yet.”

  “If you’re dumb enough to, somehow, have your serial killer status on your phone you’re dumb enough to get caught.”

  Ryan grinned, but it fell once his phone lit up on his phone screen. So far, so good. His background was an image of a galaxy. He unlocked his phone and began searching around. He tapped the messaging app and froze. He had thousands of texts backlogged in his phone, from several different people. None of the names were ones he recognized; Goeff, Jack, Gav, Jeremy, Michael, and LINDSAY (followed by a cat emoji). He had several new texts and missed calls, many from the people in his text and others from different names. None that he recognized, obviously, but it still weighed heavy on his stomach.

  He tapped on the first one, Goeff. The most recent text from from Geoff himself, reading ‘If you died I’m going to kill you, asshole’. Ryan smiled faintly. He seemed to be good friends with Geoff.

  He scrolled up to the last texts he had saved. They were fairly recent, about two months old, but he and Geoff seemed to be in contact quite a bit. Most of their texts were about unnamed events; Geoff or Ryan asking for verification on times, places, et cetera. They also talked about books and video games quite a bit. Geoff seemed to be a fan of movies as he was constantly asking if Ryan wanted to come see this movie on Saturday, this movie on Tuesday. It made Ryan wonder what they both did for a living if they had that much time together.

  He read through the other texts, most the same as the ones with Geoff. He seemed to have a very close friendship with the people on his phone, which made him much sadder to know it was lost.

 Meg must’ve noticed his change in mood because suddenly she was sat beside him. “It’s tempting, I know, but I think it’s best to pace yourself with this,” she said, placing a tentative but gentle hand on his arm. Ryan relaxed at her touch.

  He locked his phone and set it on the bedstand. He realized then that he had been crying. He hadn’t even felt the tear slip down his cheek.

  “You’re right,” he said, wiping it away. He offered her a grateful smile. She smiled brightly at him in return, and he felt something like a vice gripping his heart.

~  
  Geoff and Jack visited him that evening. Geoff was the man Meg described with all the tattoos. Jack was the bearded one. Caiti was his wife. They were all thrilled to see him alive and well, if sad to see him without his memories.

  They talked to him for the entire visitor's period about his life. They told him important events, that he was apparently a double major in theatre and computer science, that he lived in east Austin, not far from the hospital, and that he had a dog named Edgar. He made his money building webpages for whoever paid. He met Jack in college and Geoff through Jack, and they’d been friends for nearly 10 years at that time. He had many more friends as well that couldn’t be there but whom Jack kept posted on his situation; Gavin who was out of the country, Jeremy who was on the east coast, Lindsay and Michael who were in Australia on vacation.

  When visiting hours ended, Geoff patted Ryan’s shoulder and said, “We’ll see you soon, buddy,” before leaving.

  When the room was quiet again he sat back in his bed. The divider between his and Meg's bed was up, as Meg had received visitors as well. He felt lonely now, though he could hear the soft crinkly of pages turning occasionally as she read. It was dark out so he just tried to sleep. He was exhausted, but his mind wouldn’t shut off, after everything that had happened today so he laid in bed and waited for sleep to take him once more.

~

  Breakfast that morning was plastic-y eggs, dry toast with very little butter, milk, and water. Ryan ate it with mild disdain. As soon as he was finished he was whisked away to another round of tests and, towards the end of the evening, a small group therapy session for amnesia. It was more a support group, with a mixed bag of people who’d recovered most of their memories that they’d lost years ago, people who still had no memories, people with short term memory loss. Ryan didn’t say anything during the session, but he listened carefully to peoples’ stories about recovery and healing (even in cases where memory didn’t return) and took to heart everything they said. He left feeling more optimistic.

  Meg had been there as well. She talked a little about her mom, and how even though she didn’t really know her anymore she still felt pained seeing her cry.

  Ryan brought it up that evening. He went slow, not wanting to make her cry again but curious about her family.

  “Your mom is the woman who visits you every day?” he asked quietly.

  “Yeah. She always comes this giant photo album with family photos and tells me about them, though,” she said with a fond, almost sad smile. She was pretty when she smiled, Ryan thought. Or rather, she was always pretty but she was stunning when she smiled. “She brought me my laptop and some DVDs today, if you want to watch a movie with me?”

  “What movie?”

  Meg grabbed her bag and pulled out a few cases. “You pick,” she said. She scooted over on the bed and patted the area beside her, an invitation.

  Ryan chose a movie with an interesting cover. It was an older movie from the sixties that wasn’t actually very interesting at all, but halfway through Meg fell asleep on his shoulder so he didn’t really mind.

~

  Meg was a very touchy person, Ryan learned. After that night they grew closer, and Ryan learned that Meg gesticulated a lot when she was wrapped up in whatever she was talking about, and that many of these gesticulations involved touching Ryan’s knee, or forearm, or shoulder. Not that Ryan minded.

  He also learned that she loved hugging him. When he met her mom he figured it was probably a familial thing; before she even knew his name his mom was wrapping him up in a hug. Ryan appreciated it, his friends weren’t very emotional people and the physical contact grounded him. Because of this, he often found himself opening up more towards Meg. She always knew what to do to make him feel better, and in return he tried his best to reciprocate. His therapist said it was fantastic that he formed such a close bond with someone in a near identical situation.

  But when it started to become more Ryan panicked.

  Meg was gorgeous. According to her mother she was a model before the accident, with big prospects on the horizon. When Ryan learned this information he realized that he’d already somewhat suspected this. Meg was stunning. Her smile, her hair, the way she held herself all exuded beauty. Even in drab hospital clothes she was abnormally attractive. As a human being with eyes Ryan always thought she was a very attractive woman, but he maintained a friendship that was unhindered by his attraction. But when feeling became involved Ryan felt awful. She needed a friend, not some guy to flirt with her. And Ryan had established that he would be a friend to her. It would be scummy to completely shift this dynamic, so Ryan fought the feelings as best he could and prayed that it would pass.

  However, Meg’s touchy habit became almost painful. When he flinched away from her fingertips he noticed that stunning smile falter just slightly, her brow furrow in confusion, but the changes in demeanor were gone as soon as they’d come.

  Meg was better than him at the whole communication thing, though. More perceptive as well, because one day during their lunch she brought it up.

  “Do you not like people touching you?” she asked.

  A stake of panic ran through Ryan’s heart. His mind raced to come up with an answer, but with Meg’s eyes on him he couldn’t lie. Not to her. “Hm? No, I just…”

  Meg stared at him, curious. Ryan didn’t want to lie to her. Meg was a good person, he felt that, if she wasn’t attracted to him like he was to her, she wouldn’t be cruel about it.

  “I like you. A lot. “

  Meg lit up in a way he hadn’t expected.

  “You do? Ryan, I like you too. I was just going to wait until we were out of this place to say something. Not many date options in a hospital, y’know,” she said.

  “Well, it’s only two more days until we get out,” Ryan said.

~

  Two days came and went. Things continued more or less as normal, with much of their time being spent being poked and prodded in a figurative and literal sense. He was cleared for discharge, with regularly scheduled appointments with his regular doctor just to be safe, as well as a strong recommendation to see a therapist regularly too.

  His first day out of the hospital was a long one. His friends picked him up and drove him to his place. It was a small house, two bedroom with a back yard. Jack returned his dog, a mutt, was extremely happy to see him again. As soon as everyone left he took a long, hot shower (a rare privilege in a hospital) and put on comfortable pajamas. The soft bed was a blessing, and he fell asleep for several hours beneath blankets that weren’t starchy and stiff.

  The next day was his date with Meg.

  They met at a sushi restaurant. Ryan didn’t know what to expect, but he was thrilled that they were able to just pick up where they left off. Meg told him about how her discharge went. She had an apartment in downtown Austin that her mom took her to. She said her mom cried and hugged her a lot, and that she was glad to have a hot shower.

  It went incredible. They walked back to Meg’s apartment afterwards, continuing the date with a movie of Ryan’s choice. Meg curled into Ryan’s side and, when the movie was over, she kissed him.

  “ Do you want to stay the night?” she asked quietly after they pulled apart.

  “I’d love to,” he said.

  It would be a long time before things returned to normal, Ryan thought. He may never get his memories back, but his friends still loved him. He still loved his life. And now he had Meg by his side. It would be challenging, but he would do it. For himself, for his friends, for Meg.

  

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a kudos or a comment if you enjoyed this story! Or follow me on tumblr at [Mcusekat](http://desertsongs.co.vu/) ! I'm not super active there but if you send me a message or something I'll see it. Cheers!


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